Iīm sorry I post so late in this thread, but I just couldnīt put it into words... the situation of ALL kind of stray animals in Spain is quite bad In fact, stray cats are not the ones who suffer most ... the worst fate awaits stray (well, abandoned!) dogs here.. Unfortunately, a lot of pets are abandoned by neglectful, thoughtless owners (does that term suit this kind of people really ?) and the shelter network here is clearly insufficient, lacking means and even social support
Only some years ago, animal welfare was a joke here, if you tried to make someone understand that animals have feelings you would be laughed at your face... and it still happens, but is slowly changing.
I donīt want to be too harsh on this, for there is also a lot of Spanish people who love and care and respect animals , but there is also a cultural background (most met in the country, I mean, rural areas) which sees animals just as beings to be used.
One startling thing about this and stray cats is that theyīre not really seen as a problem (thereīs nothing like TNR programs here!) but cats are left by themselves out there.
Roughly, the situation is this:
Most people are friendly when a stray approaches, but then they wonīt do anything about it (actually, they havenīt been educated to do anything), so the stray will survive on its own till it finishes at the local pound (kill one, of course) or is lucky enough and itīs taken to a humane shelter (no kill, and there are very few of them). Of course, there is an undertermined number of animals who will suffer unbelievably by vicious acts of cruelty, but I guess that, sadly, happens everywhere


I am sorry thisīs been a very very sad post, but as Charles said in General, We have a different perspective in the Pet Talk Community and there is a cruel world out there.

Nita